The end of lower league football ?

[Mr Dee]

Whatever it takes, I guess. But not Solent United. Anything but that!

What would Westwood do with all those tattoos

[streetrifle]

I need my fix of football every Saturday afternoon at any level. If there is no Pompey game to attend at Fratton I take myself along to one of the following wherever the mood takes me! Havant and Waterlooville, AFC Portchester, Fareham Town, Gosport Borough, all of these have decent seating and food, and the games are usually worth watching.

[Pompey Penguin]

Given that we have just brought in two new players, neither of whom was an absolute requirement, then the situation can't be that desperate at Pompey. If we were really moving into survival mode, then we would have got what we could for any assets and made do with whatever players we had available.

[richisbradders]

I’ll be honest I haven’t missed football that much, over the years I’ve become less and less interested and I don’t watch any team other than Pompey on tv now. This massive break in actually being there (I’ve had a st for 22 years) has just left me totally disinterested with it all to be honest.

[Mr Dee]

I’ll be honest I haven’t missed football that much, over the years I’ve become less and less interested and I don’t watch any team other than Pompey on tv now. This massive break in actually being there (I’ve had a st for 22 years) has just left me totally disinterested with it all to be honest.

I know what you mean. I just miss the day out and being in the crowd at FP. The closest I've come to watching football in a while is the Tottenham All or Nothing on Amazon prime

[No Shot Sherlock]

I’ll be honest I haven’t missed football that much, over the years I’ve become less and less interested and I don’t watch any team other than Pompey on tv now. This massive break in actually being there (I’ve had a st for 22 years) has just left me totally disinterested with it all to be honest.

My interest had started to wane long before Covid. Okay, I've never been a Westwood, not even a Selsey Bill, but seeing our club screwed over (and it's reputation dragged through the mud) time and time again had just about broken my connection. When I think about it, Milan Mandaric was one of very few owners - if not the only one - in the near 53 years since my first visit to the Park that genuinely seemed to care. But fan ownership gave me a new connection, a new sense of pride that I'd begun to think I may never feel for the club again. Then the Eisners breezed into town.

I appreciate the club is in a far better financial position now than it almost certainly would have been under fan ownership, but I can't help thinking it's only a matter of time before the present owners lose interest, or look to turn a profit on their investment, and we find ourselves up **** creek again. I fear that Covid may well accelerate that eventuality, and doubt a fan rescue would be feasible again.

But ownership is not the only issue for me. My visits to Fratton have been restricted to a handful of matches since KJ took charge of the team, but the derge that's been served up on each of those visits has done nothing to rekindle my interest. Add in the fact that the Fratton Park atmosphere has been a pale shadow on those visits, and that a splash of paint doesn't hide just how utterly inadequate the 'Old Girl' now is, and there really has been nothing to encourage me to be a more frequent attendee, let alone become a ST holder again.

So whilst I understand that many fans (not just those of Pompey) will have missed their football 'fix', I'm really not one of them. For what it's worth, imho Covid probably won't be the end of lower league football, even if it does spell the end for a number of clubs. But Covid will only be the last nail in their coffins - all the other nails have been hammered in over many years by unscrupulous owners, over-inflated transfer fees and outrageous player wages. Of course, there were dodgy owners before the advent of satellite tv money, but the scale went from local cornershop to multinational corporation. SKY has a lot to answer for.

The straw I'm clutching at is that maybe, just maybe, Covid will prove to be a reset button. If so, perhaps those clubs that survive will emerge into a new financial reality that sees the game return to something nearer the one I fell in love with on the Fratton terraces as a 10-year old boy. Sadly, I doubt we'll be that fortunate.

[GreenBlue]

Excellent post NSS; although I don't agree with all of that you wrote, it was articulated beautifully.

Like many on this site, I started watching football in the 70s and it seemed fresh and exciting. Compare that with today, the obscene money at the top, the agents, the lack of any loyalty amongst most players, the negative Sky factors (their actual coverage is excellent) etc.

The corporations and ludicrous money at the top of the beautiful game have damaged what I used to love about football far more that the pandemic has/will do. Perhaps, as NSS suggests, this could be the re-boot that some of us have long yearned for where the trophies are not just competed for by the elite few but the fans of all clubs could dream.... but, in reality the strongest clubs will probably just become even more dominant as a result.

[No Shot Sherlock]

Thanks GB

I re-read my post this morning, as well as yours, and there are a couple of points I'll add. Firstly, it's of course not just football that is so different today to when I first watched it. The reality is that the world and life in general is unrecognisable. Secondly, to add to your list of adjectives, the game (and sport in general) seemed more honest then - honest in terms of endeavor and honest in terms of enjoyment by all involved - but money engenders greed rather than loyalty and honesty (those are traits that have long been reserved for fans alone).

[Mr Dee]

[eltorrro]

Great post NSS which I would suggest applies to an awful lot of people including myself. Football used to be my most enjoyable sport but, as you so rightly say, the 'honesty' has gone out of it and so has the 'unexpected anticipation'. I cannot watch Premier League 'quality' football anymore because it's like watching a re-run with the action a few seconds behind what is going to happen..I can mostly visualise three moves ahead of where the action is because it is sooo ponderous and predictable. However, I do enjoy watching Pompey play because of its simplicity, naivety and the chance of the 'unknown' happening.
So, me for one, am not bothered if Pompey don't get promotion... but it would be nice to see them play with a bit more fervor and desire.

[Sam_Brown]

Incoming "support" from the PL with a load of caveats like B-Teams and clubs being in "affiliation" with Prem teams??

[Selsey Bill]

Very good post Sherl - and thanks for the mention

[Pompey Penguin]

Some good news for the National League.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/54352735

[Locky_McLockface]

Some good news for the National League.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/54352735

From that article

On Tuesday the Premier League held what were described as "measured" talks over a possible £250m bail-out of the English Football League (EFL), but no agreement was reached.

Clubs are known to have concerns over their own finances, and will hold a further meeting next Tuesday.

Well perhaps those clubs shouldn't be spending quite so much on player wages. I appreciate there are contracts in place, but those overinflated wage packets wouldn't miss a week or two each, but those funds would make a huge difference to the likes of Crawley.

[Sam_Brown]

Some good news for the National League.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/54352735

From that article

On Tuesday the Premier League held what were described as "measured" talks over a possible £250m bail-out of the English Football League (EFL), but no agreement was reached.

Clubs are known to have concerns over their own finances, and will hold a further meeting next Tuesday.

Well perhaps those clubs shouldn't be spending quite so much on player wages. I appreciate there are contracts in place, but those overinflated wage packets wouldn't miss a week or two each, but those funds would make a huge difference to the likes of Crawley.

Very true. The whole economy, football included, is based on debt and the foolish idea of infinite and exponential growth. Let's be honest, even without Covid this was coming.